Coronavirus: China death toll climbs to 106 with first fatality in Beijing – live updates
US updates travel warning to China to highest level as mayor of Wuhan admits authorities were too slow in releasing information about virus. Follow the latest news
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One of the curious thing to come out of the Australian news conference about school advice with regards to coronavirus, is that speakers reiterated that there hasn’t been person-to-person transmission of the virus in Australia.
“There is no evidence,” said the NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant.
The NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell was also at the press conference regarding change of advice for children returning after the long summer break. She said it is the right decision: “We know that many in the community have been wanting to see this. I think it is important we are taking this precautionary measure in line with community sentiment but also knowing we are doing everything we can even though the risk is low, to ensure the safety in that school environment,” she said.
Whether to allow children to return to school has been the subject of considerable controversy in Australia over the past few days. On Monday, a number of Sydney private schools issued much stricter restrictions on children who had been in China returning to school. As of yesterday afternoon, one asked that any children who had travelled to China in the holidays remain at home for 14 days after they returned, and do not return to school without a medical certificate.